By Jeff Howard
Automated meter reading brings benefits to electric utilities of all sizes. Once experiencing AMR, essentially all utilities agree the advantages are more than simple welcomed conveniences but become essential to their daily operations. Remotely reading meters can protect employees from hazardous situations, alleviate significant utility expenditures, and help assure a consistent supply of electricity to customers.
Of these important benefits, employee safety is the most important. Southwest Louisiana Electric Member-ship Cooperative (SLEMCO) brings power into a coastal region where the meters are spread throughout a trackless bayou region. Employees had to travel in pairs by boat to read the 110 meters along Vermilion Bay. It took them nine hours or more, and it was very costly. On one trip, the meter reading crew got thrown into the water when their small boat was capsized by the wake of a larger boat. No one was hurt in the accident, but it was a vivid reminder of the dangers they faced. Since then, SLEMCO has equipped meter information directly over the power lines to the utility office.
While AMR helps all utilities cut operating costs to a degree, some utilities save critical amounts of money through remote meter reading. David King of Northwest Territories Power Corp. said that until they installed Turtle AMR systems, meter readers had to make trips of up to one-and-a-half hours each way just to read a single meter. "Frequently, when we didn't have meter readers available, we had to have line crews make trips in to read those meters, he said, "and that was very expensive. In addition to the monthly reads, there are times when we had to re-read the meters or get a final reading when a customer moved. Further complicate that by having the meters buried under several feet of snow in the winter, and you can realize how important remote meter reading is to our utility."
Perhaps AMR's greatest impact is upon expanding electrical systems in developing countries. Myk Manon, regional manager in Central America for NRECAA, deals with the challenges of the area's evolving electrical distribution systems on a daily basis. One of the greatest needs he sees is the importance of accurate metering. "In many upper-level income neighbourhoods, the streets have limited access, controlled by guard posts and blockades," says Manon. "You have to find a pair of binoculars that have a close focal range, otherwise you have to move across the street to read the meter and completely lose the advantage of the binoculars. Just try to read a cyclometer, 4 millimeters high and 20 meters away with a high wind blowing."
Automated meter reading will continue to play a bigger role in utility operations, particularly with present and pending deregulation that will bring competition to a new level. And as new technologies surface, AMR will likely be the platform for expansion into further customer services and building utility efficiencies.
Jeff Howard is with Hunt Technologies. ET